Detroit activist Ron Scott dies at 68

Social justice champion and community activist Ron Scott lost his hard fought battle with cancer on Sunday, Nov. 29 at Beaumont Hospital Royal Oak. Scott was 68.

The founder of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, had been a political consultant to Detroit mayor Coleman Young and Congressman John Conyers, before founding the organization dedicated to protesting police brutality and institutionalized violence.

Scott has also been credited with co-founding the Black Panther Party chapter in Detroit.

“He worked up until his very last moment and that’s what kept him going, because the [work] was needed,” said his cousin and DCAPB administrator, Michelle Loveberry.

From 1976 to 1981, he was the host and producer of Detroit Black Journal, which aired on Detroit Public Television.

“Ron Scott dedicated his life to the fight for civil rights and the pursuit of justice,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan in a statement. “While Ron may be gone, his legacy and work must continue. He will be missed.”

In March of this year as the events surrounding the police shooting of in Ferguson, and tensions escalated around the country regarding police brutality, Scott told a group of supporters that Ferguson was “just the tip of the iceberg,” and that there were similar local incidents to be addressed. “They should look at cities like St. Clair Shores, where off duty officers were recently accused of pistol whipping a suspect in a case where a colleague’s daughter’s cellphone was allegedly stolen. We cannot allow officers to mix the personal with the professional in any case,’ fired Scott.

Scott also spoke out in 2013 when the Detroit Police Department’s decided to hire consultants with a conservative group that promoted a controversial stop-and-frisk program in New York City.